Stocks flat and Gold Fields tumbles again
SOUTH African stocks ended flat on Friday, although certain miners rose on promising data from China on Thursday, which showed the country’s vast manufacturing sector hit a four-month high this month as new orders rebounded.
“We have seen in the last few days that commodity prices have been firm, and some investors are taking a view that perhaps it is time to start buying in that space,” said La-eeq van Heerden, an equities dealer at Stanlib.
An emerging-market rout eased on Friday in response to the Chinese data. That helped lift the rand, which rose 1% to R10.21/$.
The Top 40 index was 0.06% lower to 38 652 and the All Share index was down 0.05% to 42 995.
Gold Fields tumbled almost 8% to R55.20, the biggest decliner on the Top 40, after shedding over 9% in the previous session after posting an unexpected loss in the second quarter on write-downs and a lower spot price.
The gold producer posted its biggest weekly loss since October 2008, having fallen 9.1% a day earlier after posting a quarterly loss.
Diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals rose 3.6% to R198.49, its highest close in five months. Base metals producer Assore climbed 1.58% to R163.18, its biggest close in six months.
Retailer Massmart wiped out Thursday’s losses due to poor halfyear profits to emerge as the biggest Top 40 gainer. The Walmart unit rose 4.43% to R155.07. Dealers said investors saw a buy opportunity after its sharp losses.
More than 152 million shares changed hands. Advancers edged out decliners, 144 to 143, with 62 stocks unchanged.
Global stock indexes edged higher, but the dollar fell on Friday after a US government report showed sales of new single-family homes last month fell to their lowest level in nine months, raising doubts about the timing and extent of cuts to the Federal Reserve’s stimulus programme.
Sales dropped 13.4% to an annual rate of 394 000 units, well below expectations, the Commerce Department said. The housing recovery was a bright spot in the US economic comeback.
Europe’s main stock markets were steady but attention remained firmly on Asia after a torrid week that has wiped billions of dollars off emerging markets for the second time in two months.
Yields on US Treasuries traded near two-year highs on Friday, with investors reluctant to break out of recent ranges, given uncertainty about when the Fed might slow its massive bond-buying programme. The 10-year US Treasury note was at 2.833%.
“This has been a very unique market situation, with the Fed stimulus being such an important component to the market rally. This is uncharted waters for us,” said Gordon Charlop, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.
“So regardless of what the move is, the fact you are some place you haven’t been before is cause for uncertainty.”—